Live From 2016, It's [Still] Saturday Night

I am a Penn State graduate/model/writer/filmmaker/other stuff. I'll probably write about films, or something.

Growing up, my parents exposed me to all forms of 70s, and 80s entertainment. I grew up watching Schwarzenegger/Stallone/Van Damme/Segal movies, listened to Van Halen, Motley Crue, Poison, and all that jazz. One of the forms of entertainment I connected with the most was Saturday Night Live. We would watch rerun episodes with stars like Phil Hartman, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Martin, you know all the greats. Which has lead me to my one true goal in life, which is I want to say, "live from New York, it's Saturday NIGHT!" Nah, it's not too far fetched.

A criticism I hear from my parents, as well as my boss and some people I work with, is that the show has lost its pizzazz. I simply do not think that is true. Before we continue in this article, do keep in mind I have seen the classics, I have studied them and they are incredible. They're groundbreaking. We have now entered a new SNL era, the actors on this show will be MY Phil Hartman and Dan Aykroyds when I am my parent's age. So, again, I love the old stuff, but the new stuff is just as incredible (if not, better). I will present skits which I think they excel in the comedy, where the past seasons couldn't have been successful in.

POLITICAL SKITS:

The Democratic Debate Cold Open may be one of the most spot-on SNL skits. They seem to remain [somewhat] accurate with the jokes they're making, which makes them even funnier (thanks Jim Webb). Staring special guest Larry David!

Let it be stated that SNL is pretty brutal on this one, but it is a damn riot. Beck Bennet's embodiment of Jeb Bush is truly hysterical, because he kind of is really like that. And Killam's portrayal of Cruz is just spot-on.

All that needs to be said is Tina Fey [nearly] verbatim said what Sarah Palin said. End of story.

ALIEN ABDUCTIONS:

This Ryan Gosling break-fest would not be complete without the Kate McKinnon on top of the cake. One cannot watch this without giving props to Gosling for breaking as little as he did.

MUSIC:

This skit takes a look at those family dinners, you know the one where your drunk uncle says something racist, and injects [at the time] the most popular song on the radio.

We cannot forget to mention the formation of The Lonely Island, the comedy music group which was spawned on this show.

Also our cast offered the stage up to the first independent artist to be on SNL!!! Chance The Rapper kills it.

STEFON:

Stefon makes us laugh at the most politically un-correct things out there, for instance: human fanny packs. Trying to keep this article PG-13 I won't go into what human fanny packs are, but it involves little people...

FAMILY STUFF:

It's the Vogelchecks! One of the most awkward skits to come out of this cast, and undoubtedly one of the funniest.

GAME SHOWS:

We also were there for Tracy Morgan's triumphant and hilarious return.

We also have Black Jeopardy. Staring special guets Louis C.K.

Take that Turd Ferguson, we have our own Celebrity Family Feud!

TERRORISM:

Lorne takes a direct jab at ISIS and it's priceless.

ISIS is a huge problem today, and what better way to ease your uncomfortable-ness, and anger than laughing?

TEACHERS HAVING SEX WITH STUDENTS:

This is one of their more controversial skits. Are they making light of something that happened to a young man, or are they stating what the young man would be stating? You come to your own conclusion.

THE OSCARS:

The last skit I need to mention is the Screen Guild Awards skit. There is no doubt we still have a long way to go when it comes to racism in America. That is seen heavily in the revealing of The Academy Awards nominations, where all people up for Best Actor were white, when there were plenty of great black actors in those films. The biggest questionable one is how Stallone gets a nom for Best Supporting Actor, while Michael B. Jordan does not. This may be one of the most thought provoking skits on SNL.